Blog / Back on the Mainland

18 March 2012

Woke up sore from yesterday's exertions. Nothing to be done. Breakfast, pack, bike.

The only interesting part of the day was the ferry ride from Georgetown over to Butterworth. It's a ro-ro for cars, motorbikes and the occasional cyclist. Departing the island is free - ferry fees are only paid by travellers arriving.

Getting out of Butterworth took a bit of effort - the road seems to turn into motorway every way you go. I figured it out and eventually joined road 1 several kilometres south of the city.

The road surface could have been better. It's scarred, bumpy, and patchily repaired but ultimately rideable. This road was put in by the British back in the day, linking Singapore to the rest of the Malayan colonies. Much of it has been superseded by the motorway E1, which isn't open to bikes.

I take a snack at 50km down. The road surface improves after that, and I just grind the kilometres down. Finding a place to stay in Taiping takes a little while, but is easy once I find the town centre - my map's coverage of Taiping isn't up to much.

Dinner is from the hawker centre: roast chicken and pork on rice, Chinese style. Hawker centres are basically large open-sided barns with a multitude of stalls selling all sorts - fried noodles here, soup noodles there, satay, rice, roti, murtabak, drinks... they're mayhem, but serious foodie territory.

100km, 23.5km/h, 4hr15min, 7361km

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